


Loyalty

by putconspiraciesinit



Category: 19th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF, Political RPF - US 19th c.
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Intervention, Politics, Poor Aaron Burr, Relationship Discussions, Thomas Jefferson Being an Asshole, Van Ness Is Considering Making Thomas Jefferson The First President To Get Assassinated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21994483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/putconspiraciesinit/pseuds/putconspiraciesinit
Summary: The old "trying to tell your friend you think their relationship is toxic" scenario, except 19th century political; or, in which Van Ness tries to convince Burr to politically dump Jefferson's ass.
Relationships: Aaron Burr & George Clinton & Robert Livingston, Aaron Burr & Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr & William P. Van Ness
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	Loyalty

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately, the description(s) of Jefferson and Burr's relationship are historically accurate.

Burr was a nice person, but he wasn’t very good with conspiracies. He always believed the best about everybody’s intentions. Things that anybody else perceived as red flags, he perceived as honest mistakes. Miscommunications. He wouldn’t know a conspiracy if it was happening all around him. Which it  _ was _ . Van Ness was sure of it, now. Either that, or he was paranoid. But after figuring out that James Cheetham was working for the Clintons, he was fairly certain he’d figured out how the Republican hierarchy worked, and it wasn’t going to work out well for Burr. It was time for an intervention.

(Actually, the ideal time for an intervention would have been before Jefferson had even been elected President, but that would never have worked. Burr had been positively  _ high _ on Jefferson-worship during the election. Nobody was getting through to him then.)

***

Burr answered the door himself, as he was wont to do, looking as cheerful and in need of sleep as ever.

“Van Ness! What a pleasant surprise! Do come in!”  
“Good afternoon, Burr. I’m afraid the subject of my visit is not an entirely pleasant one. Let us go somewhere private.”

“What, has something happened?”

“Well, I would say something  _ is happening _ , of which I don’t think you are aware, but we shouldn’t speak of it here at the doorway. The whole city has eyes and ears. I intend to get you  _ out _ of trouble, not further into it.”

They went upstairs to Burr’s study, and Burr hung a sign on the door informing the estate’s other inhabitants that he was not to be disturbed.

“So, er...what is going on, then?”

“Burr, we need to talk about Thomas Jefferson. I think--well, I am almost  _ certain _ \--he is setting you up.”

Burr raised an eyebrow.

“I know you don’t trust him,” he said, “but I still don’t fully understand why. Jefferson is a great man--”

“ _ Great _ , perhaps!  _ Good _ , I think not. I don’t fully understand how you still  _ do _ trust him, after everything he’s done. The whole party, actually. Burr, that clown Cheetham is with Clinton.”

“I’m sure Mr. Jefferson doesn’t know about that.”

“Are you sure, though? It’s a pattern, Burr. They all have some lackey directly below them who does the unscrupulous work so it cannot be traced back to them. Who ranks directly above Clinton and Livingston?”

“Mr. Jefferson has more important things to worry about than in-fighting, Van Ness. He cannot manage the entire country while also having to deal with me all of the time.”

“Jefferson cannot  _ tell _ you of his own volition that he will protect you from Clinton and Livingston, fail to keep his word, and then be cross with  _ you _ for wanting him to do better! Does a man not have any right not to be attacked by his own allies? If not for your personal sake, then for the sake of the party, Jefferson should be trying to make Clinton and Livingston stop. Instead, he allows them to run amok.”

Burr looked down.

“Well, you see, the thing is, I...I don’t think that Mr. Jefferson entirely trusts me.”

“And there it is! You’ve been working for that party since eighty-nine, that’s more than a decade! More than a  _ decade _ of loyal service to the Republicans, and still they treat you like an outsider, like--like a  _ suspect _ ! Burr, how many times have they promised to start being kinder to you if you would only do some task for them, only to simply pretend you never did that task and continue attacking you?”

“I am sure they have their reasons. Mr. Jefferson has always been a little bit paranoid, you see.”

“ _ Burr. _ Have you ever lied to him before?”

“Of course not! As you said, I am loyal to him and the party.”

“Exactly. You’ve given Jefferson absolutely no real reason to constantly accuse you of plotting against him. But has  _ he _ ever given  _ you _ any real reason to trust  _ him _ ? Because as I see it, he has yet to keep his word to you even once! He’s only ever been the slightest bit  _ decent _ to you when he wishes to ask something of you, and as soon as you’ve done what he wants, it’s back to the ‘I’m just not sure I can  _ trust _ you, Burr,’ back to the letting Clinton and Livingston tear you apart in the press!”

“Van Ness, I cannot expect Mr. Jefferson to prioritize my feelings over the greater good of the country,” sighed Burr. “He does what he has to do. Whether I like it or not has no real bearing on whether or not it’s necessary.”

“Well, I haven’t come here to discuss whether or not what he does is good for the country, Burr. I am worried about  _ you _ . Let him find another scapegoat if he has such great need of one! I cannot, as your friend, keep on watching you allow this man and his cronies to walk all over you.”

“He doesn’t mean to hurt me, Van Ness! He doesn’t...he doesn’t know, you see. I cannot expect him to read my mind, to just instinctively  _ know _ how I feel about the way he runs things. He is a great man, but he  _ is _ only a man.” Burr’s voice shook, as though he were trying not to cry.

“Well, be honest with yourself, Burr, what do you think he would do, if you told him? Do you think he would apologize? Change his behavior? Or do you think he would accuse you of conspiring against him and trying to sabotage his great plans for your own selfish agenda, or something along those lines?”

Burr stared silently at the wall across the room, his hands balled into tight fists. Van Ness put his hand on Burr’s shoulder.

“Burr, think about it like this. Could you ever treat your own followers the way you yourself are treated by Jefferson? If your daughter Theodosia performed badly on some academic assignment, could you cut all contact with her for several months as punishment? If Anna expressed misgivings about one of your security protocols, could you threaten to fire her and sabotage any future attempts she may make to get another job? If I refused to carry out one of your more avant-garde campaign strategies, could you accuse me of secretly plotting your ruin? If Davis began relentlessly attacking John Swartwout, and John came to you asking you to intervene, could you snap at him and tell him you have more important things to worry about, and that he should be ashamed for asking?”

“Of course not,” murmured Burr.

“Exactly!” Cried Van Ness. “I cannot imagine you capable of any such cruelty! And yet, when you are the recipient of it, you come up with reasons why you shouldn’t expect any better. Why it is somehow by your own fault, or why Jefferson and Clinton and Livingston are somehow within their rights. You tell yourself that this is simply how things work, in politics. Well, I don’t see the Republicans treating each other the way they treat you! That Jefferson is behind Clinton and Livingston, you mark my words. The three of them are working together against you, and whatever they are working towards, it won’t be any good for you.”

“What do you want me to  _ do _ ?” sighed Burr. “I haven’t the money, or the status, or the connections, that Mr. Jefferson has. I  _ cannot _ make an enemy of him.”

“But he has already made an enemy of you. I only want...I want you to stop believing his lies, Burr. It  _ hurts  _ to watch you blame yourself for the way he and his flunkies treat you. I know you may not see it, but he drains you. Every time you meet with him, you come back more exhausted and insecure than ever. You say Jefferson has enough to worry about due to politics without having to deal with you? Well,  _ I _ say  _ you _ have enough to worry about due to being attacked by others without having to attack  _ yourself _ ! You may not be able to stop Jefferson, or Clinton, or Livingston, from behaving the way they do. But you can stop telling yourself that they have any right to do so! You can get  _ angry _ !”

“Nobody would believe me. You’ve seen, no doubt, what they say about me in the press. As far as the public is concerned, I am a scheming backstabber who’ll say whatever I have to say to make people side with me. If I try to leave, if I try to say anything, I’ll have nowhere to go,” said Burr. No longer able to fight back the tears, he buried his face in his hands.

“No matter what Jefferson or Clinton or Livingston or  _ anyone _ does, you’ll always have me,” said Van Ness, wrapping his arms around Burr. “There is absolutely nothing they could do to change that.”

“That may not always be safe, Van Ness. They’ll come for you too, and then--”

“Let them do what they will, God damn it! I’ll  _ die _ before I leave you without ally at the mercy of a bunch of backstabbing Captain Toms! If my loyalty should make me into a target as well, then so be it. Better to be disgraced as an honest man than to advance in the world through deceit and betrayal.”

Burr smiled.

“I swear, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you.”

“You’re a very admirable man, Burr. Just look at what years of politics has done to your contemporaries! In your place, it seems practically  _ anyone _ else would turn into more Jeffersons and Clintons and Livingstons, but you haven’t. Much though I sometimes wish you’d be more skeptical, there is something inspiring about how you’ve retained your optimism. I know I certainly shouldn’t, in such a situation as those damned Republicans have put you in.”

“Someday this  _ situation _ will all be over and done with, and neither you nor I nor any of us will ever have any need to think of it again. I started this mess by trusting them when I should not have done, but I can endure. They cannot keep going forever.”

“Well, I still reckon  _ they _ started this mess, but the  _ point _ is, you should not have to endure on your own, nor will you. As long as I am still living, there is someone who would always take your word over that of any great political pawn.” Van Ness grabbed Burr’s hand and held it tightly. “You  _ will not _ stand alone against an entire government, Aaron Burr. I will not permit it.”


End file.
